GOING & COMING

When that moron said the dead guy's father would be coming after her, Sage had not thought much of it. Now as she strode down the street with {Invisibility} on she could not help feeling annoyed. The city guards were practically everywhere. Unlike the Tiih City Guard which boast a few elites, it felt like every tenth member of the Yshta City Guard she saw was someone with a Grade 4 physique or a mage. At her level they would not be hard to deal with, but they were definitely able to slow her down until more capable help arrived. It got her wondering; did the Yshian capital have a Captain like that bastard from Tiih?

Another thing that annoyed her was the fact that she had to keep holding Kaylee's hand while they strode through the streets. Since {Invisibility} was an ability she possessed, she had not bothered to learn its 3rd Order spell equivalent, which meant this was the only way she could maintain both her and the half-elf's invisibility. It almost made her regret not stealing the [Invisibility} spell model when she went back to rob Arkay's Arcanes the previous night.

The old man had set up spells capable of fending off most thieves, but they were a joke in front of the phantom Sage. Magic circles meant to alarm and trap intruders practically had no effect on her, so she was able to waltz in and take what she wanted. The only problem with her operation the previous night was that she discovered Arkay slept in his shop. As a 7th Order sorcerer he would not have been easy to deal with. Fortunately she had found him asleep so all she had to do was cast [Sleeping Circle] to prevent him from waking while she was in the middle of looting the place.

He'll probably still think it was me, she thought as she dragged Kaylee out of the crowded street and into an alley.

There was no doubt that she would be the number one suspect in Arkay's mind, especially with the whole city already looking for her. There were already drawings with her disguised likeness all over the city so it would not be a stretch for the old man to think someone wanted for murder was also capable of theft.

Although this whole wanted thing did not sit well with her, but it did not affect her much. Duke Tremas might have mobilised the City Guard to look for her and, from rumours that had been flying around, employed the Guild to find her; but none of those actions would bear fruit. In a few minutes she would be gone from this city.

I'll have to eventually come back though, she thought to herself.

At some point she would have to return to this place to get the information she requested from Sylphia.

In the wee hours of the morning, when Kaylee was still in her drunken slumber, she had travelled to the Enchanted Flower and asked Talia tell her mistress she would be back for requested information in a few weeks. It was a sort of reminder and a threat; just because she was now wanted the elf should not take it an incentive to ditch her request, not after Sage paid her a shit-ton amount of gold.

If she backs out I'll kill her!

Although she was confident it would not come to that, brokers were not a trustworthy bunch in general. There was nothing to stop Sylphia from selling her out for extra cash and a bit of protection, although that path was bound to be detrimental since she did not know much about Sage. In the end she would only end up ruining her reputation by breaching the confidentiality of one of her clients. In such a bargain she stood to lose more than she would gain.

At least that was what Sage thought.

Maybe the elf was capable of manoeuvring in a way that ensured she came out on top. Also, the fact that she had been to Enchanted Flower must be known to Tremas by now. Perhaps at this moment his minions were already grilling Sylphia about her whereabouts.

Let's hope her backing is strong enough to resist a duke's wrath, she thought as she dragged Kaylee through the city walls.

Since they had not used the city gates, the place they appeared at outside the city was completely deserted. The first thing she did after seeing the coast was clear was dispel {Invisibility} and let go of Kaylee's hand, causing the half-elf to tumble to the ground.

"Fuck!" Kaylee exclaimed. Every action she took as she tried to stand was accompanied by a wince. "Why the fuck did you do that? And why did you travel in the noisy streets instead of the silent rooftops?"

"Because I can," she replied coldly.

Outward she might have appeared as nonchalant as usual, but in reality she was pissed. It was Kaylee's fault that she was in this predicament. If not for her drunken carelessness none of this would be happening. Travelling between loud crowds was a small form of revenge for her. The fact that the half-elf's head must be pounding like hell at the moment served to ease her frustrations a bit.

But of course she would not be telling her that.

"I'm going this way," she said before Kaylee could retaliate. She was pointing about ninety degrees from the risen suns direction, southwards.

If she remembered correctly, the roads going in that direction led to the town of Nervahn. There was nothing special about it except that it acted as a waypoint between Yshta and the border city of Inalla. It was around two days ride on horseback. The time it took to get there was probably four times that on foot.

"I'm also going in that direction," Kaylee revealed, which caused Sage to narrow her eyes at her. "Why are you looking at me like that? Nervahn is the closest town in the surrounding. I'll part with you after we get there."

"Whatever," Sage said after contemplating for a while.

On the bright side, while out in the open she did not have to cover her face and could ingrain the dangerous spells she was unable to in the city, like [Conflagration]. Also, there was something she wanted to test with regards of her being a phantom.

***

The atmosphere of the Yshian capital was tenser than Marcus remembered it. Guards were everywhere patrolling on high alert. According to the rumours flying they were trying to catch some woman who killed a duke's heir.

What a courageous woman, he thought as he strolled down the main road.

In this world where individual might could topple a nation, the reason the aristocracy ruled was none other than the fact that they were powerful; or at least their heritage was. As powerful as the Mercenary Guild was, even its collective might in the country would be hard pressed to go up against the strength of the nobility. As a country that values mages, it was unsurprising that the strongest sorcerers in Ysh came from these families. The reason why the Ysran family ruled the country was more than just because of the fact that they had Savandor in their employ. King Vash himself was known to be in the 7th Order while his heir was a talented mage of the 8th. As for the Tremas duke who had been provoked, the duke was a 5th Order mage with senior sorcerers and powerful warriors at his beck and call. That was why it was so surprising to Marcus that someone would blatantly kill the heir of such a family.

Did that woman have no fear?

Apparently the duke gave an order to question all the witnesses and kill them if he did not get a satisfactory answer, though he had to retract that last part of his order after the royal family intervened. Still, the chances of the culprit getting away were practically nil.

After listening to the rumours for a while he stopped paying attention. The only reason he was in this city was to look for his comrade. A duke's problems had nothing to do with him.

That was what he thought until he entered the Yshta Guild building.

This place was twice the size of its Tiih counterpart but it was even more cramped. Upon entering he noticed a crowd gathered around the assignment board. Curious, he glanced over to see what it was about.

There was a sketch of a figure in a black hat and what looked like a mask covering most of the face up to the bridge of the nose. A smaller drawing of the figure's full body displaying a voluptuous woman in a black dress was displayed on the right of the first drawing. Below both sketches the characteristics of the featured person were jotted down.

Name: Calls herself Lady Maverick or Sage

Height: 1.60 m

Others: Believed to possess a physique of the fourth Grade and mana of the seventh Order. Owns of black cat familiar. Spotted in the company of a half-elf multiple times.

Wanted: 100 gold (alive); 50 gold (dead)

If you have any information please contact the Mercenary Guild. Any useful information will be rewarded with two gold coins. Information that leads to capture will be rewarded ten gold coins.

What the fuck! Marcus thought after he finished reading the notice. Kaylee, what the fuck have you done?

So this was what she had been hiding, the fact that she was with that undead. Why though? What was the reason for this? Among all his teammates, the last person he expected to do something so stupid was her!

Shit, he thought as he looked at the amount offered for the undead.

At the moment it looked like Kaylee's identity had not yet been deciphered. If that happened he and the other members of the Scarlet Quartet would be implicated. Quickly, he rushed to the upper floor of the Guild building and stopped at the reception there. This was the place where mercenaries sent messages to others who were at different branches.

"I need to send a message to Tiih," he said impatiently, slamming his mercenary badge on the counter.

"To who sir?" the pretty receptionist asked as she took his badge and ran it through an authentication device.

"Arletta Henson and Zachary, just Zachary," he replied. "Can I have a paper?"

When the receptionist provided him with one he quickly got to writing his message in the coded language his squad had developed. The message was very short and precise; If anyone asks we don't know anyone named Sage.

The message would reach Tiih in about an hour. Hopefully his two teammates get the message before the undead's wanted posture reaches there.

After leaving the receptionist's table he went back down and was about to leave the building when he heard someone call his name.

Turning around, he found himself face to face with an old acquaintance… the half-orc Taruk.